Row seating is employed in airplanes, movie theaters, waiting rooms, and other similar locations. Their great advantage is that they provide seating for large numbers of people in close proximity of each other.
A major disadvantage of row seating as currently offered by the industry is that the armrests are narrow and difficult to use at the same time for both people sitting in the seats on both sides of the armrests.
Another disadvantage is that these armrests are unsanitary. Though common practice is to wipe them down between movies when there is some obvious evidence of a need, e.g., some sort of liquid on the material, these armrests can go entire days without proper cleaning.
Travelers often seek some method to expand the space they take while on planes. For these individuals, the size of the armrest is nearly irrelevant—they want to take it all. For the passengers unlucky enough to be seated next to such people, travel can be very uncomfortable. Faced with pushing back against a large and often unruly individual is socially awkward and uncomfortable to many people, who tend to just tolerate the boorish behavior rather than risk an even more unpleasant plane flight by adding a tense conversation.
The frequent traveler needs a device that can increase the armrest size available to him, provide some simple barrier to the spatial encroachments by his neighbors, and ensure a sanitary surface on which to rest his arms and elbows. These needs are preferably met without an undue burden to the carrying capacity of travelers. With baggage fees and limited onboard storage space a solution cannot be bulky and difficult to transport. Furthermore, another complaint among travelers is a lack of electronic charging sources. Many airports are desperately short on charging stations leaving many travelers having to choose between using their electronics for communication or entertainment. Virtually no source is located on the plane itself making multiple flight trips and long flight trips burdensome to the traveler.
This background information is provided to reveal information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the proceeding information constitutes prior art against the present invention.